Keith Jelinek a state champ at computer language

Keith Jelinek isn't a football or basketball star, but he knows his way around a computer like nobody's business.

And that made him a state champion.

Jelinek, a junior at Montague High School and the Muskegon Area Career Tech Center, recently topped the field at a statewide competition on computer formatting language. Now he's headed to a national competition in Reno, Nev., and, more than likely, a successful job as a computer programmer.

His teacher at the CTC says Jelinek's future is "wide open" as he begins to consider what college he wants to attend. His success at the recent Business Professionals of America State Leadership Conference in Grand Rapids has ensured him scholarships to help pay for college.

Jelinek, 17, topped about 70 other students at the state fundamentals of XHTML competition. Competitors took a multiple-choice exam that also required students to make a three-page Web site reality through XHTML formatting.

"There's a lot of challenges that are fun to overcome," Jelinek said of formatting a Web site. "There's a lot of memorizing -- learning different tricks to help speed things up."

Jelinek was one of 11 Internet, network and security technologies students from the CTC to compete in the state contest. In addition to XHTML formatting, Jelinek competed in security technologies at the state conference after qualifying in both categories during regional competition.

"He's just a great all-around kid -- a great leader in the classroom," said Susan Rhem-Westhoff, Jelinek's instructor at the CTC. "He's a kid who has been into computers his whole life."

By the end of the school year, Jelinek will earn his designation as a Certified Internet Webmaster, Rhem-Westhoff said. After that she said there's no telling where Jelinek's skills will take him.

"By the time he gets out of college, there will be so many more pathways in this field that we don't even know about," she said. "The pace of technology is changing that fast."

Officials at the CTC are scrambling to find the money to pay for Jelinek to attend the Business Leaders of America National Leadership Conference in Reno May 7-9. Jelinek will be one of about 5,000 students who will be at the event.

Jelinek, the son of Brad and Denine Jelinek, said he's looking forward to his first trip to the West. He said he'll probably take his father along for the ride.

Business Professionals of America is a co-curricular organization for college and middle and high school students preparing for careers in business and information technology. Rehm-Westhoff said she's been told it's highly unusual for a first-year BPA chapter -- such as the CTC's -- to produce a state champion.